Brussels - The outgoing chairman of the European Union Military Committee wants more assets to combat piracy in the Somali basin because of the vast area that needs to be covered.
"The EU has committed three or four frigates, in 2010 but we probably need between six and 10 to cover that vast area," Gen. Henri Bentegeat said at a news conference following a meeting of the EU Chairs of Defense Staff (CHODs). He insisted that there was coordination between the EU and NATO naval assets in the area and "certainly no duplication."
As for progress on developing military capabilities at the EU level, he said it was "hard to tackle shortfalls in a time of economic crisis" but stressed that "countries cannot afford to go on focusing on national priorities without giving more thought to European cooperation."
But he pointed to an embryonic European Defence Agency project for third-party logistics support that enables civilian contractors to make logistics offers to EU countries for crisis-management operations, and which resulted in considerable savings in the EU mission to Chad and Central Africa.
The EDA has a Web site for this project.
Regarding the use of EU battle groups, Bentegeat said the concept would not be changed but that some countries might be allowed to use them as a reserve force for current operations.
Gen. H■ kan Syrén, who will take up his duties Nov. 6, underlined the importance of civil-military cooperation given that there is often a need for conflict prevention and stabilization.
Finally, with regard to the notion of "permanent structured cooperation," in which some EU countries could press ahead with military cooperation with or without others, Bentegeat said this was a "complex subject" and that the CHODs would allow the Spanish presidency of the European Union, which will begin in January, to launch its own program on the issue.
The Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is ready to test a few components that soldiers may have in their hands by 2010.
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